Hi all, during the ASAP conference, there was a wonderful talk on service animals and how they can help our lives.

I had NO idea that perhaps this type of 'equipment' would be beneficial to me.

I spoke with Karen and her daughter Kimberly and met Kimberly's dog Lace! What a great gift Canine Companions is to Kimberly and her mobility, social aspect.I am now going through the list of organizations to help me get around, and do some household chores, in addition to the social aspect. I am alone a couple of months during the year, and I would love, love to have the independence and the comfort knowing that a service dog could assist me, so I don't put myself into a flare. Also, a service dog is one that could retrieve a phone for me if I fell. This all with voice commands!

Anyone else have a service dog? How has that helped you, mobility, and socially?

Best organizations to go through to get a dog? I understand it can take up to two years.

Thanks all for the information. I look forward to having a helping hand with things that I cannot do without my husband around. The kids are grown and on their own.

I met the dog last night. She is gorgeous! I just think she is wonderful. I think she is wanting to be an "only" after I petted her and while the ruckus was still going on, she laid at my feet and curled up and watched the goings on.

I think she is perfect! I feel like a 9yo, waiting for the 10th year birthday !!

I saw this post & just had to brag on my dog. LOL I have a 4yr old German Shepherd service dog name Hannah. I started out training her for my son who has Autism. But then as my legs & balance got worse, I realized how much she would compensate to help me too. So I revamped her training a bit & now she goes everywhere I do. She just seems to "know" when I don't feel good. I can't explain it. She does things I didn't teach her! She's even detected my bf's seizures multiple times, before they've happened. I thank God for her every day. She's not perfect & is easily spooked, but her benefits easily out weigh her faults.

I am working with Allie, and she is a sweetheart. Kind of a sneak thief, but she wants to please. We are in our fourth week of training, and we are working on 'bite' which in integral for the retrieving items for me.

She already will stay still for me. It was weird, when I interviewed the trainer, I was explaining to the trainer what I needed Allie to do, and I had bent down and Allie, who follows me everywhere, was standing next to me, and I always have trouble getting up, I used her little block head and put my hand on her head and pushed on her head to get up, and she didn't buckle under my weight! YAY! And I said to the trainer, 'just like this' and she already knew what she was there for.

I do need her to 'get it' a little more, but I love having her around, and she is sweetheart like I said. I'm alone a lot due to my DH working out of state. She has already flown with me, so that's all good. She did really well. She was a little concerned about the take offs, but other than that, she just laid down and curled up and went to sleep.

I feel so lucky, now if I could just get the 'bite' thing down. Her previous people didn't play with her, so she doesn't play, doesn't fetch, doesn't tug, nothing. She prefers to hang with me all day long. Which is ok with me.

That is great that Allie is doing so well! I too have trouble getting up & down. I'll have Hannah "Stand" & "Hold" & push up off her to get up. When I was training her, what helped the most was being around a friend who also had a service dog for her daughter. By watching the other dog do things, she would do them also & still does those same things today 2yrs later! You might want to do a search online or check with the trainer & see if there is anyone near you with a service dog that you could get with to help her learn the things she's having the most trouble with. Let me know how it goes. Feel free to PM me.

Hi there, Thanks for the information! It's great to have someone else that has a service dog. My friends think it's a good idea for me to have one.We are working on the phone, she will 'get it' for me, but only when I am holding it. And she will hold it, but won't bring it with her. She drops it. SIGH!

She can do it, but she doesn't quite understand what she is supposed to do.

I don't always check here, so sorry!

I will try to be better with this. Allie is smart enough, but it is harder than I thought. Speaking of, I have to take Allie for a walk now. We have a test tomorrow.

We too are hoping to get a service dog for our daughter and hopefully one for me too at some point but we have no idea where to start and with my daughter at some point wanting to move out on her own we know she will have to have one. Can someone please share what they know and how to go about applying for one please.

I used to be a trainer/socializer professionally and now I just do occassional work, some of which is with service dogs.

The first general step is to identify *specific tasks* that the dog can be taught to help the disabled person. It is best to pick 1 important primary task...something you really have trouble doing for yourself. For example, with me it's meds...I never take them on time, and can't usually hear the darned timer go off thanks to a serious concussion causing hearing loss and I misplace the timers due to memory issues. So a dog alerting to timers would be a big help. 2 lesser tasks should also be found, although there is no limit on the number of tasks you can teach a good service dog. The rule used to be 3 tasks, but the ADA recently changed the rules so 1 will do, but it now has to be at least 1 you can't easily do for yourself. Like it's no fair having a hearing alert dog anymore if the only reason you needed one was because you refuse to use your hearing aid that works just fine if you'd just wear it. However in a situation like mine, where my hearing loss is a brain processing issue that a hearing aid can't correct, it would be a fair accomadation.

The FIRST *legal* step is to get a note from your doctor stating that his patient needs a service dog. I really ought to keep a file around here with the exact wording...you want it to say just the right thing, not too much, not too little. I'll get back to this thread with the wording soon.

Then you want to decide if you are capable of training this dog, as I am. I also have a friend who has trained a succession of her service dogs. We co-trained her last one. If you've ever put an AKC CD or higher obedience title on a dog you could manage it with some help. Or will you find a trainer to do it? or go through an organization to get a trained service dog, which is often more expensive but sometimes well worth it for certain disabilities. If you are going to train the dog then you face the problem of finding one with the proper temperament and health for public work...harder than you might think...and figure for about 6 months minimum of constant and consistent training of how to behave in public and under many circumstances, as well as their tasks.Rozanne/phyre

"A path of awakening would never suggest that we should be a passive and unwitting spectator of our own repeated disasters, but should turn the power of our attention to untangle the web of complexity." Christina Feldman

"A path of awakening would never suggest that we should be a passive and unwitting spectator of our own repeated disasters, but should turn the power of our attention to untangle the web of complexity." Christina Feldman

Sad news.. Allie has chondrosarcoma, malignant tumor in the thoracic chest wall. She just underwent surgery at WSU PUllman, WA to have it removed. I'm in Kirkland tonight cause I had an new NSG appointment.She had a five hour surgery, since they did a rib re-section. She came through with flying colors.She's a great dog. I have to go back tomorrow or Saturday to stay and visit with her until she is released.She is in doggy ICU and getting morphine to control the pain.

Well, just an update. Dog cancer is hard to beat. She will only live to six or seven years. BUT, she is so worth it. She is a great dog. But, I wasn't ready to say goodbye yet.